Customer Reviews

At the Jim Bridger: Stories

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

than anybody. "At the Jim Bridger" is Carlson's third book of short stories in a row; each time I didn't think it was possible for him to surpass himself, but somehow he does. His whimsical, funny, sad stories about love and lost and possibility are far truer to me than Carver's stories of dissolution. Carlson has the amazing ability to tell a sweet or happy story without selling out to melodrama or senimentality; he can tell a gut-wrenching story of loss and despair without giving in entirely to cynicism and morbidity. I can't tell you how many friends who tell me "I don't like books of short stories" I've converted to worshippers of Carlson over the years through gifts of "Plan B for the Working Class" and "Hotel Eden"; now I have a new axe to grind, and grind it I will. I can't wait to see his new novel next year.

Start with any of these stories, and you'll soon be hooked. Read "At the Jim Bridger" from the front, from the back, it doesn't matter. Soon you'll be grabbing other Carlson books--"News of the World," "Plan B," "Hotel Eden"--and the next thing you know, you'll have devoured everything he's written the way I have. Nobody cares more about the short story than Ron, and it shows. Stories like "Towel Season," "Ordinary Son" and "Potato Gun" are told by narrators who only get one shot making their stories matter to others, and all they have is heart, humor and voice to get them there. And the title piece is an explication on story telling from the master. You simply won't be able to put this book down. One caution, however: if you read this book in public be prepared for strangers glaring at you because of all your laughing.

Reading At the Jim Bridger was like catching up with an old friend. These new stories will sound vaguely familiar, but will inevitably end up surprising you. No matter who you are, you'll not only see yourself in each set of characters, but you'll find yourself rooting for them.

A great collection that will serve you well at home, during travel, at the book club. Whatever and wherever you read, just read this.

Ron Carlson is perhaps the best short fiction writer in America. He can do something very view authors can do: write a happy story without making it tripe. These stories are funny, moving and true, whether they really happened or not. Pick this up with "The Hotel Eden" and then track down "Plan B for the Middle Class" and "News of the World."

There is a decency about the characters in Ron Carlson's short stories that is never sappy, that rings true. And missing is that element so common in so much of today's fiction--smartalecky irony. His people may seem naive, but they also seem real, yearning for completion, meaning in their lives.

Ron Carlson is a major short story writer, in the same league as Raymond Carver and Russell Banks.

If you ever get a chance to see Mr. Ron Carlson read some of his work don't miss out. He has many moods, but you might catch him in his Arizona version of Mark Twain mood, where word leaps up on word to outdo everything that has gone before, for a a folklorist of the fabulist he has no peer. Then to turn to the tales collected in AT THE JIM BRIDGER is to fall into a trap of melancholy and missed chances that will remind you of a more varied sort of John Cheever. The suburban outlook is unmistakable, but in Carlson it is endearing. One story, "The Potato Gun," is haunting as anything ever written by Andre Dubus, while "The Towel Season" is like something Nabokov might have written had he a household full of kids.

The title story alone is worth the price of this book. The eleven pieces differ in original ways and are a joy to read. The author is considered by many to be an acknowledged master of the short story. For just enjoying writing, students who are learning how to write in this genre, and the general reader, this volume is recommended.

When I heard Ron Carlson talk about the illumination and toleration in reading and writing a few weeks ago, I thought I knew for sure that this man was a great writer, an inspirational author, someone who was speaking to me. But reading At the Jim Bridger opened my eyes to realize that beyond some clever phrases he left much to be desired. The book's moral bankruptcy is disappointing and the author's indulgence in pointless topics turned me away. Carlson will has a good passage of description in each story and about every other story discusses a topic worth reading about and joining the character on his/her journey, but most of the time, his stories are not worth their weight in hay. It's a shame that someone with so much potential does not put it to good use. These stories reach into the minds and pasts of their characters and we get to follow them through a climactic point in their lives and then they end. He does not give the reader any substance from which to draw conclusions. He once said that, "reading is about walking into the light," while, "writing is about tolerating the dark". I can see that sometimes he was in the dark while writing but I expected to walk into the light at some point during his stories, to have the lights turn on or at least be handed a lantern, but I felt like I was walking down a mountain trail using my cell phone to light the way. I'm sorry I chose to read a book by Ron Carlson.

When I read Carlson's novel Five Skies, I was enchanted by the portrait of men working to bring each other through and along, the exploration of basic human decency. I found the same in At the Jim Bridger. There are mistakes, blunders, flaws, infidelities and tragedies, but the essential view of humanity is that it's good at heart. I can't express how welcome this is.

There are many high school stories in this collection, but each is distinct enough to keep the collection from feeling repetitive in theme. "Evil Eye Allen" interested me because it reminded me of a Steven Millhauser short story called "Dangerous Laughter." Both were about teens and parlor games and the sixties, but this one was beautiful and the Millhauser was awful. "The Potato Gun," a portrait of a first date and a family death, could have veered into sappy if not for Carlson's ability to ratchet down the prose to a fine, tight point that will not allow pathos or bathos to leak in.

I enjoyed every story in this collection. I'd read "The Towel Season" in Esquire, and loved it more upon rereading. In fact, this and "The Ordinary Son" are my favorites, dealing as they do with the problem of genius in the real world. But "At the Jim Bridger" is the best in the book. A man disappoints himself by using an edited version of the most honest, elemental experience of his life as a tool of seduction and fears that he's ruined everything; his life, his marriage, and above all, the truth of the experience.

Very highly recommended.

Ron Carlson is a masterful writer of short stories, that being said, I feel like this book does not stand up to his other collections - The Hotel Eden, Plan B For Middle Class & The News of the World.

I first found Ron Carlson after reading a magazine review of his latest novel, The Signal: A Novel. Instead of taking on that novel, I started with his short stories and fell in love with them.

"At the Jim Bridger" is Carlson's newest book of stories and I had extremely high hopes for it. However the up and down quality of the stories didn't grab me like the other books have.

One of the greatest reviews I've ever read regarding Ron Carlson's short stories is as follows "Trying to sum up a Ron Carlson story is like trying to hold sparkling spring water in your bare hands - no matter how you cup your fingers, some of the magical stuff leaks out." - The Seattle Times.

This collection has 9 stories and 2 very short interludes, some of my favorites were -

At the Jim Bridger

The Potato Gun

The Ordinary Son

At the El Sol

At Copper View

If you've never read Ron Carlson and you want to check out his short stories, please do yourself a favor and start with any of his other books. Of his four novels, I've read "The Signal" and enjoyed it immensely and I hope to read his award winning Five Skies soon.

Enjoy~